The truth about the protective value of face masks and how easy it is to catch Covid-19Coronavirus – latestHow to protect yourself against coronavirusMany individuals who get coronavirus will experience nothing worse than seasonal flu symptoms, but the overall profile of the disease, including its mortality rate, looks more serious. At the start of an outbreak the apparent mortality rate can be an overestimate if a lot of mild cases are being missed. But this week, a WHO expert suggested that this has not been the case with Covid-19. Bruce Aylward, who led an international mission to China to learn about the virus and the country’s response, said the evidence did not suggest that we were only seeing the tip of the iceberg. If borne out by further testing, this could mean that current estimates of a roughly 1% fatality rate are accurate. This would make Covid-19 about 10 times more deadly than seasonal flu, which is estimated to kill between 290,000 and 650,000 people a year globally. Continue reading...

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The truth about how you can catch coronavirus, who is most vulnerable and what you can...

The truth about how you can catch coronavirus, who is most vulnerable and what you can do to avoid infectionCoronavirus – latest news and updatesWhat are the symptoms and should I see a doctor?How to protect yourself against coronavirusWearing a face mask is certainly not an iron-clad guarantee that you won’t get sick – viruses can also transmit through the eyes and tiny viral particles, known as aerosols, can penetrate masks. However, masks are effective at capturing droplets, which is a main transmission route of coronavirus, and some studies have estimated a roughly fivefold protection versus no barrier alone (although others have found lower levels of effectiveness). Continue reading...

The truth about how you can catch coronavirus, who is most vulnerable and what you can...

The truth about how you can catch coronavirus, who is most vulnerable and what you can do to avoid infectionCoronavirus – latest news and updatesWhat are the symptoms and should I see a doctor?How to protect yourself against coronavirusWearing a face mask is certainly not an iron-clad guarantee that you won’t get sick – viruses can also transmit through the eyes and tiny viral particles, known as aerosols, can penetrate masks. However, masks are effective at capturing droplets, which is a main transmission route of coronavirus, and some studies have estimated a roughly fivefold protection versus no barrier alone (although others have found lower levels of effectiveness). Continue reading...

Covid-19 essential guide: can it be caught on public transport, how is it different from the...

Covid-19 essential guide: can it be caught on public transport, how is it different from the flu, and how sick will I get?Follow our latest coronavirus blog for live news and updatesHow to protect yourself against coronavirusCoronavirus symptoms: what are they and should I see a doctor?The Covid-19 virus is a member of the coronavirus family that made the jump from animals to humans late last year. Many of those initially infected either worked or frequently shopped in the Huanan seafood wholesale market in the centre of the Chinese city of Wuhan. Unusually for a virus that has made the jump from one species to another, it appears to transmit effectively in humans – current estimates show that without strong containment measures the average person who catches Covid-19 will pass it on to two others. The virus also appears to have a higher mortality rate than common illnesses such as seasonal flu. The combination of coronavirus’s ability to spread and cause serious illness has prompted many countries, including the UK, to introduce or plan extensive public health measures aimed at containing and limiting the impact of the epidemic. Continue reading...